Government approval ratings have hit new all-time lows, according to Gallup, which has been measuring the standing of big institutions since the 1970s. The percentage of Americans saying they have confidence in Congress has dropped to the earthworm level of 7%, the lowest in the history of the poll. The Supreme Court registered its own all-time low of 30%. The presidency, with a confidence rating of 29%, is at the lowest level since Barack Obama took office in 2009, though it was lower in 2007 and 2008, the last two years of George W. Bush’s second term.

The last recession technically ended five years ago, so the government’s reputation ought to be improving. Instead, there’s been a steady decline since 2004. There was one exception -- a surge in approval ratings for the presidency after Obama was first elected in 2008. But that honeymoon has clearly ended.

Facebook continues to give users reasons to dislike the tech giant. Over the weekend news broke that the social media site had manipulated the news feeds of nearly 700,000 users without their knowledge. It undertook an experiment in 2012 to test the notion that users feel bad when they see lots of positive news from their "friends." The experiment involved reducing the number of positive news feeds for some and reducing the number of negative news feed for others. The study found that the more positive the news feeds a user received, the more positive their postings became, and vice versa. Related: Facebook: What’s not to like?

An astounding 70% of college seniors had student loan debt in 2012. According to a study by the Institute for College Access and Success, the average student loan debt for a 2012 graduate was about $30,000. And it's about to go up.

Every year for the past 30 years college tuition and fees have been rising anywhere from 2 to 5%. Four-year public college and universities now cost an average $9,000 a year, including room and board, for in-state residents and private nonprofit colleges cost an average $41,000, according to The College Board.

This September students will not only be paying more for school than they paid last year, but they will also be charged higher rates for new loans.

For perspective, consider that 30-year fixed rate mortgage rates are just over 4%.

Related: Could free college tuition be coming to California?

Wang offered their solutions to the problem of student debt and unemployment:

Americans are preparing to celebrate Independence Day, and most of the world is fixated on Brazil as the World Cup tournament field tightens.

Yet market attention might soon swivel toward Europe, with a full economic calendar set for the days ahead. Next week's activity comes amid concerns that economic lethargy could displace investor optimism about a return to growth and the effectiveness of central-bank stimulus efforts in the region.

The European Commission Friday reported an unexpected decline in household and business economic sentiment, and inflation in the euro zone has stubbornly remained below 1% since the fall, keeping big-picture fears of deflation nearby. The European economy nudged ahead by 0.2% in the first quarter, down from 0.3% the prior period, and now higher oil prices and skittishness over Russia and Ukraine are serving as the unanticipated threats of the moment. As Reuters quoted Christoph Weil, economist at Commerzbank: "The good news from the euro zone is that the economy is growing again. The bad news is that growth is excruciatingly slow."

A stagnant economy has undoubtedly put a lot of financial stress on the middle class. And that is bumming out America’s 1 percenters. “Our country is rapidly becoming less a capitalist society and more a feudal society,” entrepreneur Nick Hanauer wrote recently in Politico, in an open letter to “my fellow zillionaires.”

He’s not the only wealthy worrier. Venture capitalist Tom Perkins complained earlier this year about the “persecution” of the rich through high taxes, while magnates such as Sam Zell, Wilbur Ross and John Mack have griped of late about the unschooled masses scapegoating America’s moneyed elite.

One of the most iconic pieces of Americana, the shopping mall, isn’t really American at all. In fact, the first mall was created by an Austrian refugee who wanted to recreate an American version of downtown Vienna.

Victor Gruen escaped to America from Nazi Austria in 1938 with, “an architect’s degree, eight dollars, and no English.” By the late 1940s, World War II was over and the American economy was in full swing. Suburban sprawl and consumerism were the new normal, and this bothered Gruen. “[Strip malls are] avenues of horror… flanked by the greatest collection of vulgarity—billboards, motels, gas stations, shanties, car lots, miscellaneous industrial equipment, hot dog stands, wayside stores—ever collected by mankind,” he wrote.

Gruen conveived of a central, indoor shopping location that would allow Americans to get out of their cars and socialize. He envisioned a crop of apartment towers popping up around the mall, the creation of an urban downtown within the suburbs - that's not what he got.

Around this time online retailers like Amazon.com took a 6% bite out of brick-and-mortar business.

Shares of GoPro (GPRO) closed at $31.33, up more than 30% from their IPO price of $24. Thursday was the first day of trading for the maker of HD high-action cameras. The company may be a darling of Wall Street but is the stock a good bet for average investors?

Jeff Reeves of InvestorPlace.com tells The Daily Ticker why he thinks GoPro is a risky investment for the average Joe. While he thinks IPOs are risky investments in general for individual investors, he does point out some red flags for GoPro in particular. He says the company's S1 revealed that revenue and net income dropped signficantly in the last quarter and revenue growth continues to outpace profits (sales are up 87% but gross profit is up less than 60%).

Earlier this week the Obama Administrationlifted the longstanding ban on U.S. crude oil exports. The ruling allows just two Texas companies -- Pioneer Natural Resources andEnterprise Products Partners to export.

In an unusual twist, the ruling wasn't made public and the White Housesaid its policy hadn't changed because the ruling pertained to the export of light condensate, not conventional crude oil.

The Commerce Department, which granted the permits, reclassified the oil as processed petroleum product, which is not banned for export.

Greg Zuckerman, a special writer at The Wall Street Journal and author of the book The Frackers, tells The Daily Ticker that the administration's move is a "first step" in a change of policy and is a result of the shale revolution underway in the U.S.

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The Daily Ticker covers the most important business stories of the day -- the economy, investing, corporate leadership and politics. The Daily Ticker is hosted by Aaron Task, Henry Blodget and Lauren Lyster. Often serious, sometimes irreverent and always interesting, The Daily Ticker gives viewers a unique take on the business world's most crucial stories.